BackupPC-users

Re: [BackupPC-users] Initiate backup from client?

2009-11-11 17:52:15
Subject: Re: [BackupPC-users] Initiate backup from client?
From: Peter Walter <pwalter AT itlsys DOT com>
To: "General list for user discussion, questions and support" <backuppc-users AT lists.sourceforge DOT net>
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:22:39 -0500
Meel Me wrote:
Hello,

I want to know if it's possible to initiate a backup from the client machine, in a way that the clients connects to the backuppc server over the internet to start the backup?

*My (desired) situation*
I've got a laptop. I'm abroad for many months once and a while. While I'm abroad I want to be able to backup my laptop regularly and to restore the data on my laptop if it crashes (or gets stolen).

I want to place my backuppc server in a total other region than my home is. So that a disaster like heavy earthquake, explosion, etc. will never effect and my backuppc server and my laptop at once.
The location where I can place my backuppc server is not in my local area network. The backuppc server will only be available through the internet.


*Question*
I've read the documentation of backuppc. There are several methods for backing up laptops (smb, rsync, rsyncd, tar). All methods are initiated from the backuppc server, so the backuppc server will set up a connection to the client.
If the client (my laptop) is not in the local area network, then the backuppc server can't find the client and won't make a backup of it.

In the situation I described above, my laptop will never be in the local area network of the backuppc server. Therefor my laptop will never be backuped.

Is it possible to initiate a backup from the client machine, in a way that the clients connects to the backuppc server over the internet to start the backup? Instead of that the backuppc server makes a connection to the client?

If so, how?

Thanks,

Wim

I am working towards exactly the same idea, but for laptops that almost *never* come into the office. For example, you can kick off a full backup as follows:

BackupPC_serverMesg backup HOSTIP HOST USER FULL

I am working on (somehow) using cygwin on the Windows laptop to issue the *nix command, and I intend to use OpenVPN to establish the necessary network path whenever the laptop is connected to the internet. I will post when I have a working procedure, if someone else doesn't beat me to it first :-)

Peter


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